Exercise mat assembly

ABSTRACT

An exercise mat assembly is disclosed for use in practice of yoga and like endeavors. A bottom layer of the assembly is a conventional rubberized exercise mat. An upper layer is a towel comprised of absorbent material. A unique joinder of those parts is achieved with zippers at one or more edges of the exercise mat and towel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed and claimed herein is directed to an improved exercise mat assembly. Prior to applicant's invention the patents and applications discussed below struggled to provide effective means for connecting towels to yoga mats used for the practice of yoga and other exercises.

Yoga and related activity generally involve active movement of individuals engaging in various stretches, poses and the like. If done properly, this activity generates considerable perspiration which can interfere with the activity during and after a yoga session. That perspiration has nowhere to go but down, onto a mat, onto the floor or over a body.

For that reason, and others, towels or like water absorbent materials are typically brought with a yoga mat to yoga sessions, or like exercise, in order to collect and wipe off accumulated perspiration during, or after, exercise. This usually means carrying a towel or other absorbent material to the place where the exercise is practiced to facilitate the “wipe down”, during and after the exercise. But that usually involves carrying two bulky rolls of material to a yoga session (mat and towel in separate rolls) which can be cumbersome and takes up space. Towels are also used during exercise to absorb perspiration that might otherwise fall to the yoga mat, making it slippery.

Thus, there has been an unmet need to provide a compact, user friendly way to transport a towel typically used during, or after, exercise. Others have tried, unsuccessfully, as described below.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,015,881 issued to M. Kress discloses various means for removably attaching a towel to a yoga mat, none of which is very practical from a manufacturer's or users' standpoint. FIG. 7 of this patent discloses multiple VELCRO® strips for attaching a towel to a yoga mat (column 5, lines 51-58). In another embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 the towel is inserted through sockets 802 with flexible teeth 805 that hold it in position (Col. 6, lines 30-40).

U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2014/0345089 dated Nov. 27, 2014 discloses cumbersome clips with a cam lever which are spaced around a towel overlaying a yoga mat to secure and separate one versus the other.

U.S. Published Patent Application 2014/0178664 dated Jun. 26, 2014 discloses a yoga mat with a water absorbing top layer laminated to a lower (against the floor) neoprene layer. This is impractical from the standpoint of difficulty in separately cleaning the top layer.

U.S. Published Patent Application U.S. 2016/0059065 dated Mar. 3. 2016 discloses a yoga mat with an absorbent overlay held together by snap fasteners within the periphery of the yoga mat. Those fasteners, however, have a hardness and bulk that would interfere with the smooth surface needed to practice yoga.

Multiple patent properties listed above address the problem of how best to combine a water absorbent material (towel) with an exercise mat into an overall exercise assembly. Each has it's own deficits as noted above. None disclose or suggest applicant's approach to this problem detailed herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The instant invention solves the above mentioned problems by providing a towel and mat having essentially identical length and width dimensions which can be used together or separately to resolve the above mentioned problems with prior exercise mats. More particularly, this invention facilitates use of an absorbent towel and exercise mat together or separately, as needed.

This is achieved by providing a towel and exercise mat of corresponding dimensions which are removably attached to each other with a zipper along multiple edges.

More particularly, in the abovementioned example of a yoga mat, that mat can be joined to a towel in order to absorb perspiration so the yoga mat never gets wet from perspiration. The disclosed article also allows for a quick separation of the towel and the exercise mat so that the towel can be easily removed from the exercise mat and used to wipe down the exerciser and remove any stray perspiration. The two items (towel and mat) can then be reattached to each other with the zipper so that they can be easily rolled together and taken home where they wetted towel can be removed from the mat and be rehabilitated in the washer and dryer. The zipper also provides a secure connection between mat and towel when joined.

A preferred means for enabling attachment and detachment of the towel and mat is a zipper along two edges of the respective towel and exercise mat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the towel and exercise mat of this invention with zippers along the edges of each for attachment of one to the other.

FIG. 2 illustrates the towel and exercise mat attached to each other along two edges with the towel partially withdrawn from the exercise mat to better illustrate the relative position of each item when one item is attached to the other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the moisture absorbent towel 12 and exercise mat 14 which form the principal components of the exercise mat assembly 10 of this invention. In this Figure towel 12 has zipper components 16A and 16B at opposite ends thereof and the exercise mat 14 has mating zipper components 18A and 18B.

Towel 12 usable in the invention is comprised of any one of numerous water absorbent materials having sufficient tensile strength to withstand the rigors of strenuous exercise that may be practiced by the user of the exercise mat assembly 10 of this invention.

The edges 13 and 15 of the towel 12 and mating edges of exercise mat 14 can be reinforced, if desired, by a suitable strengthening tape or reinforced borders (not illustrated) to facilitate attachment of zippers 16 and 18 to the towel 12 and exercise mat 14. Mat 14 of this invention is typical of those currently used in the practice of yoga. Such mats average about six (6) feet in length and two (2) feet in width and are quite flexible so that they can lay flat on a floor or other exercise surface. A “waffle” texture is typically imprinted on both surfaces of exercise mat 14 to help limit slipping on the mat by a person while exercising and for limiting movement of the mat on the surface where placed.

Zipper parts 16A and 16B on the towel 12 contain interdigitating rows of matching zipper parts 18A and 18B on exercise mat 14 (See FIG. 1). In accord with well known zipper technology, a slider 26 (See FIG. 2), operated by hand, can be moved along the rows of matching zipper elements to mesh the zipper elements 16A and 16B together with zipper elements 18A and B or separate them, depending on the direction of the slider. As applied to this invention the zipper parts 16A, 16B and 18A, 18B, can be respectively attached to the ends, preferably the shorter ends, of the towel 12 and exercise mat 14. These two parts can be joined, or separated, from each other by movement of a slider 26 across the length of the adjoining zipper parts.

The exercise mat assembly 10 of this invention thus facilitates transport of towel 12 connected to the exercise mat 14 to and from the site of the exercise. It also allows flexibility at the exercise site to separate the towel 12 from the exercise mat 14 to collect sweat before it falls to the mat 10 or “towel-off” during exercise. Once the exercise is completed the towel 12 can be easily zippered back on the mat for easy transport. It can then be easily removed for washing or airing out. 

I claim:
 1. An exercise mat assembly comprising: a rectangular, lower, thin flexible mat for placement on a planar support surface; a rectangular, upper, flexible moisture absorbent planar material overlying and substantially coextensive with an upper surface of the lower mat, and at least one zipper fastener attached to at least one edge of the mat and absorbent material for selectively fastening the mat and absorbent material together.
 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the length of the flexible mat is about three times the width of the mat.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein the zipper fastener is attached to the shorter edges of the rectangular mat and flexible moisture absorbent planar material.
 4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the flexible moisture absorbent planar material is a terry cloth towel. 